


Dollhouse

by cledritch



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Don't Read This, Drabble, M/M, Metaphors, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 10:19:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10358154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cledritch/pseuds/cledritch
Summary: Sometimes, all you need for your dollhouse is the doll to live in it.





	

His life was a dollhouse.

Picturesque, with marble columns that fitted on the structure to hold up sturdy walls and barred with gold that the windows were hard to look into without touching the rows of spiraling steel meant to protect but only looking like prison bars.

The door is always shut with the front porch immaculate and the light wash of pink and purple hues that painted over the walls had given it the illusion of homely. He’s watched so many people try to knock on the wood to let them in, some even trying to break it down by pounding on it as if it would splinter with every fist they bruised for their efforts.

The doors of his dollhouse were enforced with steel, after all.

 It was meant to keep them out as much as it was meant to keep him in. The windows were covered in curtains, the flowers withering outside in their pots from being neglected for so long and there was a sense of discomfort that came whenever they passed by him during the times he would let a little light shine from the inside.

They’d marvel at him when he danced on stage, graceful arches of his arms and strong kicks to emphasize to the beat of the song. He owned the spotlight that the crowd would gasp and shriek when he as much as let his eyes wander into their way. He knew he was smart enough to be part of the top students, handsome enough to be considered popular and knew his way around people to charm them into thinking he’s all that it seems.

The Thai transfer student with a pretty smile that excelled in everything and loved by all.

Not the boy who is locked in the dollhouse he made for himself.

 

Ten only opened his door once.

It was for a boy so tall he had to tiptoe just to hook his chin over his shoulder, bright eyes that sparkled every time they landed on the younger and a smile that always seemed to spell trouble no matter what. He was in Ten’s Advanced Korean lessons, a Chicago-born who seemed to have a penchant for parrot impressions and he liked to hold him by the shoulder because it felt nice to have someone close that never questioned.

“You’re crazy,” he once said when Ten dipped his finger on the bowl of chocolate, a disapproving look on his face "That’s just disgusting.”

Ten merely laughed at him, licking the chocolate off with a grin.

His name was Johnny and he was the first person Ten had wanted to see beyond the bars of his self-made prison. He felt like he was six again, doing whatever he wanted without worrying if he was going to have skid marks and bruises from climbing trees in his expensive clothes. The times he was just Ten who played in their backyard so much that he always washed mud off his shins at the end of the day. Johnny made him feel free as a bird, held his hand without being scared of the way people did a double take at them because Ten was a well-known heartbreaker and Johnny was the resident go to guy when people had troubles. There were times that he’d find the elder pause and wave at a group of boys who greeted him with loud yelling and hoots when they saw he was with Ten.

It was a funny thing and Ten laughed even when he didn’t find it that funny.

He was introduced to them, Johnny’s friends who he tried to remember their names but only their faces stuck to him enough after he and Johnny broke it off. He didn’t find a reason to stick around when he’d see Johnny make an effort to still try to be friends with him despite how his friends whispered at him to not do so.

Yes, Ten broke it off with a measly excuse of concentrating on his studies without breaking his façade as Johnny seemed to be waiting for the real reason. They had stared at each other, in the middle of the busy crossroads waiting for one of them to break the silence but Ten let Johnny move his body away even if his eyes are still trailed on him until the moment he turned around.

Ten didn’t reach out to stop him.

What was the use anyways? He can already see his family brandishing their phones, ready to ruin Johnny’s life just so Ten would stay away from him.

Just like that, his doors become covered in spikes to stop anyone to even try to open it.

He started to be snarky when people talked to him, showed a bit of an attitude that made people wonder what Johnny did to the sweet boy from before but he smirked at them, shaking his head.

He was always like this. It was never about how people thought about him. As long as they were thinking of him, it was enough to make him sharpen his words to the point that he would find people steer clear of him before whispering behind his back. Hell, even Johnny looked at him with worry over the sudden change in personality.

It wasn’t until he was shoved into the dumpster, three people he recognized as Johnny’s friends. He knew Oh Sehun from the higher grade, a tall male with big ears and a dark-skinned male with a menacing glare that didn’t fit his face, did he reevaluate some things. He knew they weren’t here because Johnny sent them, oh no. They were here to get revenge on their own accord for Johnny and because Ten may have kicked Sehun’s locker on his way out without meaning to.

“You know why you’re going to be beaten up, Ten?” Sehun hissed, face livid and he gritted his teeth when Ten smiled, shaking his head “You won’t have a pretty face to show off when we finished bashing it in.”

They cracked their knuckles and Ten felt like laughing at them. He’s so used to people threatening him, trying to intimidate him because he was smaller and so the moment Sehun threw a punch, he ducked. Ten immediately raised his leg to hit the elder on his side, right where he knew that it would make Sehun fall to his knees. The tall one tried to grab his arms but Ten sidestepped to twist his thanks to how long they were, using him as a shield when the dark skinned one swung his fist at him.

“Damn it!” Sehun hissed, stumbling back to his feet and swinging again but Ten knew what to do. He was still using the tall one as a shield while the remaining attacker tried to land a hit so he pushed the tall one to Sehun, using his leg to trip the dark-skinned one into the two and they all fell to the floor.

Ten huffed, running away from the scene without any thought.

He bumped into someone instead.

Ten screeched the moment they collided, stumbling back and looking to where Sehun had been helping his buddies up and looking around for where he ran off to so Ten grabbed the person, not wanting to have to explain to the police if this kid got killed. He pulled them with him, running through the hallways and ignoring the sounds of protest from the person.

When they were as far away from the boys, did Ten turn around to ask “What were you doing there?”

The boy, wide eyes staring into their clasped hands, gulped and said in a deep voice “Johnny-hyung sent me to check.” His words were weird, tinged with an accent that wasn’t Korean and he spoke slowly as if trying to digest the syllables so he can also understand them. Not a native speaker which means this was one of the Chinese boys Johnny’s family took in for this semester.

He has only met Kun, cautious and a little cynical, once when he studied in Johnny’s home but Johnny spoke about the cute one who he likened to a younger brother he never had. His tone was affectionate then, Ten almost felt jealous. Almost because it disturbed him more the way Johnny looked over at the hallway as if he’s waiting for someone to come out.

He merely smiled back at Ten.

Ten realized why.

Sicheng, he recalled when Kun called the name when he was outside and he saw the blur of black hair walk out the corner where the hallway started, was someone that hid a lot.

Sicheng stared at him now, letting his fingers loosen so it would slip away from Ten’s grip. He moved back, bowed at him and walked back to wherever he came from, leaving Ten wondering about his eyes.

His eyes that reflected the light but the way he looked at Ten was dead.

A blank stare that didn’t fit what Johnny said about him.

Interesting.

 

From spending time with Sicheng, forcing him to eat lunch with him, walking the same way like they were old friends and learning about this boy who seemed to be afraid of him, Ten realized how much he wanted to keep him.

It’s a silly notion. Sicheng is nothing like Johnny. He’s very quiet, keeping his emotions to himself a lot if he can help it and despite how awkward he tries to fashion himself into, has so many charming points. He doesn’t flaunt whatever looks he’s gifted with, hides in clothes too big for him that looked very familiar and Sicheng only spoke when spoken to unless it was Kun or that white-haired boy who worked in the library who always seemed to check on Sicheng,

“What is it?” Sicheng asked, finishing his questionnaire and setting aside his pencil when he found that Ten had seated beside him where he was studying in the library. The elder had his elbows on the table, cushioning his chin as he looked up at the boy.

“Those are Johnny’s clothes.” Ten said, surprising how he only noticed now. The black shirt with Super Corn was definitely something he wore once when he slept over, the absurd attire something only Johnny could pull off. He wondered why Sicheng is wearing it, however.

Sicheng pulled at the sleeve absentmindedly and nodded. “I didn’t have time to wash my clothes and he lent it to me.”

Ten narrowed his eyes, a bit irritated at the way that the collar dipped to show Sicheng’s collarbones. He didn’t know whether to tell the younger about how weird that was for Johnny but he shrugged it off, pulling his red plaid jacket off to cover Sicheng’s front. Away from the temptation of those collarbones. He found himself stare at the way Sicheng fixed the fabric that it wouldn't fall off, dainty and calculated that he wondered how Sicheng was raised.

He reminded him of those uptight children, dressed in designer clothes and pretending they were better than everyone else. Petulant little kids who Ten had to share a homeroom when he was in elementary in some prestigious boarding school, taught manners and common courtesy from last century. Ten laughed a little as he imagined Sicheng sitting down looking pretty, sipping from a tea cup-

Then that’s when it hit him.

Sicheng acted a lot like a doll.

Sicheng who did what everyone wanted if it could benefit him, always wanting to please everyone even if it made him uncomfortable or would put him in danger and wore someone else’s clothes without even asking why. So naïve, with blank eyes and a pretty face that he always seemed to school into a neutral expression.

His eyes were dead, not because he was dead inside.

Ten recognized the way that Sicheng always seemed to stare at him, curious and inquiring as if trying to look past the walls that Ten has around him. He recognized protection when he sees it, hiding under the fake sweetness that Sicheng carried with him when people cooed at how he seemed to find it difficult to pronounce his sentences. They all wanted to help him, act like he's six when he was nineteen and Ten couldn't help but wonder how Sicheng didn't just blow a fuse at the treatment.

It was because he learned that he can't show his emotions if he wanted to survive.

It was because he’s been taught that he should do what benefited him, eyes covered in a film that made it hard to look into them.

Like doll eyes, pretty and easy to place that you don’t need to think about what emotion they might hold when they never had any.

Ten looked at Sicheng who stared back, dark blank eyes that seemed to know the things that Ten realized. They didn’t speak, gaze locked before Sicheng smiled. Slow little smile that made him look just like the porcelain dolls that he saw in his mother’s collection, painted red to fake the life it didn’t have and Ten felt a hand placing over his. It was warm against the back of his hand and he turned it over to intertwine their hands to find that his were cold.

Sicheng went back to writing. Ten smiled to himself.

Perhaps he hadn't realized it when they first met, in the darkened alleyways holding hands and running away from danger. He doesn't know what it would mean that Johnny acted weird around this strange boy who didn't hesitate to hide that he already knew his way around people with a little smile that fooled everyone. 

Ten can open his door one last time. It's safer to keep someone who need his protection at this point.

Who would have thought there was a doll fit to live in his dollhouse?


End file.
